Pictorialism vs Tableau Photography

ピクトリアリズム / タブロー写真

Both sit in Photography Movements, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

Pictorialism

Pictorialism — スタイケン『池 — 月光』1904 / Public domainPictorialism — ドゥマシー 1907–15頃 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainPictorialism — スタイケン『フラットアイアン』1904 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Presented photography as art equal to painting, through soft focus, staged scenes and handworked prints.

Tableau Photography

Tableau Photography — キャメロン『リア王と三人の娘』1872 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0Tableau Photography — F・ホランド・デイによる演出肖像 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainTableau Photography — キャメロン『ミューズのささやき』1865 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Assembles the scene before the shutter and holds it in a single print made to hang like a painting, its figures acting as if no viewer were there.

PictorialismTableau Photography
Eralate-1800s–c.19141970s
FamilyPhotography MovementsPhotography Movements
KindStyleStyle
CuesSoft focus / Mist and backlight / Painterly composition / Handcrafted printsA single large print made to hang / Figures who never look back at you / Interiors and streets built to the last corner / Lighting borrowed from cinema
Best used forPortraits meant to be atmospheric pictures rather than records · Landscapes sold as works, with the handmade print part of the valueRestaging the conventions of advertising or news images to cast doubt on them · Building a story into one frame meant for exhibition, not for record
TypeTitle and sign by hand in the print margin, never on the imageMake the text in the frame as a prop rather than borrowing a typeface
CompositionMove the subject off center, gather the light in one area, sink the restFix gaze and hand positions in advance and block the frame like a painting
MaterialSoft focus, backlit mist, hand coated printing that keeps the paper textureBuilt sets or models, cinematic lighting, large format shot and printed big
CautionApplying blur uniformly afterwards leaves no trace of anyone following the light, and the result is simply a photograph out of focus.Staging that only imitates a natural record leaves the assumption that photographs record reality untouched, and the whole reason for constructing the scene disappears.

Put these two together

Photography Movements

IndexStyle